[EN] Innovation, sustainability and craftsmanship: the Aragon Agri-Food Awards already have winners

To recognise the excellence, innovation, sustainability and commitment of the people and entities that contribute to the development of the Aragonese agri-food sector. That is the objective of the Aragón 2026 Agri-Food Awards, which will hold their second edition on 9 September and whose winners have been decided this Thursday by the jury of the awards.

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, Arancha Simón, chaired the meeting. At the end of it, the Minister stressed that these awards allow «to recognize the work of those who contribute every day to strengthen the agri-food sector», generate economic activity and keep the Aragonese rural environment alive.

The people, entities or companies that will receive the awards will be, until the gala, a real surprise, although Simón has advanced that it has been a «complicated» decision. Above all, taking into account that in Aragon «we have agri-food companies and very prepared people, fabulous artisans and a great product». Thus, it has been «small definitions» that have made the jury lean towards some profiles over others.

TRIBUTE TO FARMERS

The Aragon Agri-Food Awards have six categories: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Product, Design or Packaging; Content Creation and Dissemination of the Agri-food Sector; Aragonese Agri-Food Research; Best Artisan Food Company; Ecological or Sustainability Initiative; and Special Award of the Agri-food Sector of Aragon.

This last award will go this year to the farmers who have collaborated in the work of extinguishing the fires registered this summer in different parts of Aragon, to whom tribute will be paid during the gala. «Given the circumstances, we have decided to pay tribute to all those farmers, ranchers and people in the sector who have been giving their time, their desire, their effort, their infrastructure for the issue of fires,» explained the minister, who has defined these farmers as «the guardians of the rural environment».

Numerous professionals from the field made their tractors, tanks and agricultural machinery available to the extinguishing teams, in addition to their knowledge of the terrain. Their collaboration made it possible to provide support in tasks such as tilling fields and creating strips that acted as firebreaks to stop the advance of the flames, the supply of water, the opening of accesses and the protection of crops, farms and population centers.

THE JURY OF THE AWARDS

The jury was chaired by Arancha Simón and included Adolfo Ballestín as vice-president and Aurora Cepero as secretary. On behalf of the Administration, the jury was made up of Enrique Novales, Director General of Quality and Food Safety; Carlos Calvo, Director General of Common Agricultural Policy; and Ana Belén Martín, Head of the Rural Infrastructure Service. The meeting was also attended by Pilar Abad, Head of the Food Promotion and Quality Service, representing the Directorate General for Food Innovation and Promotion.

External representatives included José Víctor Nogués, for Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de Aragón; Eva Lázaro, for Food and Beverages of Aragon; Dr. Mónica Bueno, researcher at the Agri-food Institute of Aragon; Ovidio Ortín, for the Association of Food Artisans of Aragón San Jorge; and Fernando Martín, representing the Confederation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Aragon.

The Aragon Agri-Food Awards were created to publicly recognize people, companies and entities that have stood out for their career or for actions of special relevance to the sector. The awards have no economic endowment and consist of the delivery of an accrediting distinction. The gala will take place on Wednesday, September 9, at 6:00 p.m. at the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Food.